Winter storm watch posted for midstate

DAN GLEITER, The Patriot-News/2008Traffic drives through snow in December at St. Johns Church Road and Trindle Road in Hampden Twp.

Temperatures should be unseasonably warm today, but look out: a winter storm is on the way.

The National Weather Service in State College has issued a winter storm watch for Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday due to a system that has the potential to create havoc during the Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning rush hours.

A winter storm watch means there is the potential for significant snow, sleet or ice accumulation that could impact travel.

A low pressure system moving from the southwest to the northeast is expected to pass west of the Appalachians Tuesday. That will keep the midstate on the warm side of the system, lessening the likelihood of significant snowfall locally.

A layer of cold air trapped near the system is expected to result in freezing rain Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday morning before temperatures warm enough to switch the precipitation to rain.

"It will be above freezing in the clouds when the rain forms, but it will freeze when it reaches the surface," NWS meteorologist Craig Evanego said.

Evanego said precipitation Tuesday could start as sleet or snow before changing to freezing rain. An accumulation of about a tenth-of-an-inch of ice is likely for the Tuesday afternoon drive home, with about a quarter-inch likely to accumulate overnight.

"The Wednesday morning rush will probably be slick," said Evanego.

This afternoon will be mostly cloudy with a high around 45 degrees. But after temperatures fall below freezing overnight, they will hover around the freezing mark Tuesday, Evanego said. It will warm up Wednesday, but not until after the morning rush.

The NWS forecast calls for calmer conditions Thursday and Friday, with temperatures topping out in the mid-30s each day. Another winter storm system is expected to reach the area Friday night into Saturday. That system is more likely to be snow, Evanego said, but it is to early to project accumulations.

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